Sound Issue W11 22H2 (Realtek)

Skeet1983 · Dec 19, 2022

Hi guys. I have a laptop running Windows 11 22H2. Not always, but lately I have noticed that there is no sound when playing games, or doing other tasks. I have ran a particular game 3 times now today, and all 3 times had no sound. Weird thing is, I went to test/troubleshoot sound in W11, and the "test sound" played ok. My laptop has Realtek speakers. Any help greatly appreciated :)

Ghot · Dec 19, 2022

Skeet1983 said:
Hi guys. I have a laptop running Windows 11 22H2. Not always, but lately I have noticed that there is no sound when playing games, or doing other tasks. I have ran a particular game 3 times now today, and all 3 times had no sound. Weird thing is, I went to test/troubleshoot sound in W11, and the "test sound" played ok. My laptop has Realtek speakers. Any help greatly appreciated :)

If the "test" sound plays, but that particular game sound doesn't... I would check the sound settings... in the game itself.

Winuser · Dec 20, 2022

If it turns out to be a problem with the Realtek driver, MS has a unique cure. Pretend the problem doesn't exist and the problem will eventually go away.

Skeet1983 · Dec 28, 2022

Hey again guys. I have been reading online that there is an issue with Realtek Speakers and Windows 11 specifically, but have not found a solution or fix. Does anyone known if this is indeed a known Windows 11 issue primarily, and/or know a fix for it? Thoughts and help appreciated :)

Winuser · Dec 28, 2022

Skeet1983 said:
Does anyone known if this is indeed a known Windows 11 issue primarily, and/or know a fix for it?

Yes, it is a known problem that looks like MS is going to just ignore. The only way I can get my speakers working is to use the HD audio driver. Device Manager > Sound, video and game controllers > Realtek(R) Audio > Driver > Update Driver > Browse my computer for drivers > Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer > High Definition Audio Device. Then do a restart. I don't know if it will work for you or not. I have tried so many Realtek drivers and none of them will work on my desktop.

IanMosley · Dec 28, 2022

Skeet1983 said:
Any help greatly appreciated :)

Just tested on my system and I can get sound on a YouTube clip and the games I have.

Ghot said:
If the "test" sound plays, but that particular game sound doesn't... I would check the sound settings... in the game itself.

It looks as if your resolution could be, as suggested by @Ghot, by checking the game itself.

Skeet1983 · Feb 1, 2023

Hi guys. Is there a Realtek Driver that works with Windows 11? I went to Realtek site, Driver downloads are somewhat older. My laptop has Windows 11 and uses Realtek Speakers (I think). Help appreciated :)

spapakons · Feb 4, 2023

If you go at Realtek's site, you can find the latest drivers for Realtek HD audio. Install these and you should be OK unless the computer manufacturer has made any customizations requiring its own drivers (rare).

To save you the trouble: PC Audio Codecs > High Definition Audio Codecs Software - REALTEK

neves · Feb 4, 2023

spapakons said:
If you go at Realtek's site, you can find the latest drivers for Realtek HD audio. Install these and you should be OK unless the computer manufacturer has made any customizations requiring its own drivers (rare).

To save you the trouble: PC Audio Codecs > High Definition Audio Codecs Software - REALTEK

Doesn't work like that for years. That driver is for old HD audio chips - and Realtek doesn't offer any support for newer models despite being produced by them. Mainly, because this days every OEM - pairs their drivers with all kinds processing software - to "improve" the sound. That being said they're usually 2 sets of drivers - the ones made by the OEM in partnership with another 3rd party (like HP, Dell, MSI + Steelseries/Nahimic, Beats Electronics, etc) and OEM + Microsoft (this are usually the cleanest drivers - using a basic realtek console / tho, even Microsoft - may offer the option to use the 3rd party sound tweaking apps). Thus, it's to much hassle for Realtek - to bother with their own version (pure waste of time). So, they gave up on Audio Drivers for HD Audio chips. Tho, they still release updates for NW drivers.

neves · Feb 4, 2023

What in the no-name cargo-ship made brands is XOTIC!? :think:

This guys have not drivers support page whatsoever: XOTIC PC GP17 Ultra Light Gaming Laptop Probably rebranded laptops - like rebranding the ones that didn't pass the Quality Test and selling them for a cheaper price.

Guess, your only option is MS updates. Go to the Windows Updates page - and if a Search doesn't find any drivers - click on Advanced Options - > Optional Updates - > Driver Updates (see if you can find any available here).

Or you could try the latest modded UAD drivers - based on the latest official drivers from Microsoft: https://github.com/pal1000/Realtek-...Unofficial-Realtek-UAD-generic-6.0.9464.1.zip

Ed Tittel · Feb 8, 2023

My best results have come from the French driver site station-drivers.com, searching for updates based on my motherboard and/or PC maker (for laptops). I know other VIPs and experts have issues with third-party driver sites, and I respect that. YMMV, but my personal experience with the site specifically for Realtek(r) drivers has been 100% positive. That said, make sure the download name does not include Nahimic (unless you've got Nahimic audio) or it won't work.
Cheers!
--Ed--

Winuser · Feb 8, 2023

Skeet1983 said:
Hi guys. Is there a Realtek Driver that works with Windows 11? I went to Realtek site, Driver downloads are somewhat older. My laptop has Windows 11 and uses Realtek Speakers (I think). Help appreciated :)

Send Xotic an email and ask the for the driver. sales@xoticpc.com

Edit: This should be more helpful. Contact Us | XOTIC PC

spapakons · Feb 9, 2023

The latest official Realtek drivers may be old, but they work fine in the majority of cases. Give them a try before experimenting with any third-party drivers. The equivalent of Creative SoundBlaster would be like avoiding official Creative drivers and install KX Project instead. Yes, sound will play, but hardly the same features and not familiar user interface. I prefer to go official first, no matter how old, before trying any third party. We are talking about Windows here, not Linux where almost all drivers are third party.

TVeblen · Feb 10, 2023

There may also be a problem with Realtek drivers and the Stereo Mix recording device. It sounds like it is related.
See this thread over at MSI forums:

MSI Global English Forum

...

forum-en.msi.com

spapakons · Feb 10, 2023

The Stereo Mix recording device (disabled by default) is the equivalent of "What U hear" of Creative's SoundBlaster, that is it records all sounds played by the sound card. I use this when I want to record the audio from my computer to a video file when capturing the screen. How is this related to the OP's issue? You can mute this device so it won't echo all sounds causing distortion. To avoid passing the maximum level and causing distortion I set its volume to 96% when recording, I avoid 100%.

TVeblen · Feb 10, 2023

Good advice.
When recording from the stereo mix, using Windows Recorder or Nero WaveEditor, there are reports (and a confirmation from yours truly) that the recording is sprinkled with electronic artifacts (pops, snaps, warbles) and some on that forum report that updating the driver helped but did not cure the problem.
The consensus there is that it is a driver problem rather than a sound chip (ALC4080) or motherboard (MSI) problem. But I am looking into all possible causes.

spapakons · Feb 10, 2023

Try latest official Realtek drivers, I know they are not very new, and see if that fixes your problem. If not, then you can download latest drivers from your motherboard (or computer) manufacturer. If that also fails, try drivers from third party sites or utilities such as Snappy Driver Installer. One way or another it is going to fix.

flhthemi · Feb 10, 2023

I'm on Win 11 on an unapproved PC an old AMD Phenom II X4 965 Processor and Realtek
PCI\VEN_10EC&DEV_8168&SUBSYS_E0001458&REV_03. All I did was install the R282 drivers from Realtek's site and all seems just fine.

After reading these posts I just opened Audacity and recorded from an MP3 file playing on WMP via the stereo input and it's clean as a whistle. (Click SOUND CHECK) Maybe it's the older hardware????

I do like to sing and I run BlueStacks and via that I use StarMaker Karaoke app. I run a mic through an 8ch Peavy mixer to the line in on the PC. I haven't tried this on Win 11 install yet, but I will now!

I recorded a snip of some music. The first ~4 seconds are silence.

Sound Check

TVeblen · Feb 10, 2023

spapakons said:
Try latest official Realtek drivers, I know they are not very new, and see if that fixes your problem. If not, then you can download latest drivers from your motherboard (or computer) manufacturer. If that also fails, try drivers from third party sites or utilities such as Snappy Driver Installer. One way or another it is going to fix.

It's a new motherboard (PRO Z790-A WiFi) and the driver I have installed is 6.3.9600.2342. I'll check to see if there is a newer one for that ALC4080 chip.

erpster4 · Feb 14, 2023

TVeblen said:
It's a new motherboard (PRO Z790-A WiFi) and the driver I have installed is 6.3.9600.2342. I'll check to see if there is a newer one for that ALC4080 chip.

@TVeblen

MSI has a 6.3.9600.2347 driver version available for your Z790-A Wifi board - released 12/30/2022 on the MSI web site.

after installing the 6.3.9600.2347 driver from MSI, you can try manually updating the realtek usb audio codec driver to 6.3.9600.2349 from the MS catalog site

spapakons said:
The latest official Realtek drivers may be old, but they work fine in the majority of cases.

not exactly spapakons, especially when old official Realtek drivers don't support newer audio chipsets like ALC245, ALC897, ALC4080/ALC4082 (those specific chipsets came out in year 2020)

neves said:
Doesn't work like that for years. That driver is for old HD audio chips - and Realtek doesn't offer any support for newer models despite being produced by them. Mainly, because this days every OEM - pairs their drivers with all kinds processing software - to "improve" the sound. That being said they're usually 2 sets of drivers - the ones made by the OEM in partnership with another 3rd party (like HP, Dell, MSI + Steelseries/Nahimic, Beats Electronics, etc) and OEM + Microsoft (this are usually the cleanest drivers - using a basic realtek console / tho, even Microsoft - may offer the option to use the 3rd party sound tweaking apps). Thus, it's to much hassle for Realtek - to bother with their own version (pure waste of time). So, they gave up on Audio Drivers for HD Audio chips. Tho, they still release updates for NW drivers.

Realtek stopped making "generic" audio drivers (ones that bundle the generic HDXRT.inf, HDXSST.inf/HDXRTSST.inf files in which those INF files install on almost virtually any audio chipset, old & new)